Wal-Mart Canada's chief marketing officer talks about the arrival of Target in Canada, consumers' love of flyers and the significant influence research can have upon advertising strategy

Emma Fox joined Wal-Mart Canada as chief marketing officer last year and has been delving into what makes the discount retailer’s shoppers tick ever since, most particularly the company’s chief target: Canadian mothers. This week the company launched a quarterly survey, the “Momdex” to gauge the attitudes of 2,000 Canadian women with children under 18 at home. Ms. Fox, who came to the company after executive roles in food and private label goods at its British unit Asda, spoke with Hollie Shaw about the arrival of rival Target in Canada next spring, consumers’ love of flyers, and the significant influence research can have upon advertising strategy.

QWal-Mart refers to its key customer as “Mom,” and much like Procter & Gamble, you play heavily to moms in your messaging. You launched the Mom of the Year Award in May. Do you think consumers associate “mom marketing” with Wal-Mart?

A We came up with the idea of celebrating fabulous Canadian moms but we were a little bit cautious to make sure that we weren’t being too worthy, and that actually there was a [connection] between what moms think of Wal-Mart and what we think they think of Wal-Mart. We did [consumer] research into questions like, “Does Wal-Mart have permission to do the Mom of the Year Award?” Overwhelmingly, the results said yes — [people] felt it was the right route to go down.

[np-related]

QHow much use of its research does Wal-Mart Canada make to guide its marketing decisions?

A Effectively, until a few years ago, we probably used more traditional methods of research in terms of understanding our customers. When I came in 13 months ago I felt it was really important to fully understand our customers, who they were, how we needed to communicate with them and how we engaged with them. I kicked off a more granular level of insight which took the form of shop-along listening groups, mommy blogger forums, online focus groups, in order to talk to our customers in a way that was convenient and relevant to them, rather than always doing it in the more traditional focus groups with a one-way mirror. We actually talk to 750,000 Wal-Mart customers a year.

QHow do you think the Momdex results will influence advertising strategy? The findings about the most challenging aspect of being a parent, for example — 72% of those surveyed said it was keeping their kids’ diet healthy — will we see communication from you that taps into that insight?

A We are drafting our campaigns over the next 12 months, and that is exactly the direction we will be going in. We are growing our food and our fresh food part of the business aggressively. It’s all about trying to respond to moms’ need to feed their children in a more healthy manner and juggle the budget by offering fresh food and vegetables at great prices. It is also about convenience. Lots of people do not know how to cook from scratch or how to use fresh ingredients, so it is easy to rely on takeout or more convenience foods. So one of the roles that we can really play is to help them with recipe ideas, meal solutions, that type of thing, as part of the way we are responding to moms’ feedback.

QDo you have any special marketing plan for the arrival of Target in Canada? A lot of customers will be going to shop there initially, even out of curiosity — how will you encourage them to stay with Wal-Mart?

A We welcome competition into the market and we are looking forward to them coming in to the marketplace. We will compete, as we always do, on price, which is the cornerstone of what we do. We are not making any grand changes in plan. We believe in our strategy and we believe that, based on all of the customer insights, that that is the way for Wal-Mart to continue to grow at the rate it has been growing in Canada.

QYou have always done a lot of television advertising. Is that changing?

A In the years gone by we have been on television 52 weeks of the year. That has no longer been our strategy in the last 12 months. But TV is [important; it is] about getting mass communication out to our customers. Radio ads can be a bit more targeted by province. And flyers are a currency of the Canadian market. Coming over from the U.K. where we do not really have flyers, but here [they are] just a big currency for the retailer and the customers. Customers love the flyer; they tell us they will sit in bed on the Thursday evening with a pen and get all the flyers out and mark which retailers have the cheapest offers that week. Shoppers love that kind of hands-on, show-me-the-flyers kind of job.

QAre there going to be any further marketing projects leveraging this connection to moms?

A Mom of the Year has been a tremendous success for us, with 17,000 responses from all provinces. It gave individuals an opportunity to write about their moms, and in this day and age that doesn’t happen very often. It was phenomenal. We will continue to enhance that [program] to celebrate moms year after year.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.